rose28

I am trying to decide how to do all the things I want

I want to do capri and the blue gratto and I also want to do Tuscany and wine country and if I had to fit in one more option not sure if it would be rome or venice

what would be the the best place to start and which airport is most feasable?

also I dont mind renting a car but is it better not to have a car in capri?

i want to do romantic stuff and is there any night life in tuscany?

Adoc86

I would save Capri for another trip and try to spend the entire week on the "mainland." Seven days isn't enough time to see all of those places.

jabez

Agree with Adoc. Where are you planning on flying in and out of? If Capri is a must and leaving from Rome, only do them.
define "night life." Florence at night is wonderful, but (depending on when you are going) nights are fairly quiet in hill towns. Remember, you may not be getting out from dinner until well after 10.
Rome can be very romantic with a vibrant night life. Capriris beautiful, but not if foggy and raining.

rose28

thank you for your response. we are going in mid july. still havent made my flight as of yet, just wanted for some evening some shows, live music, wine bars.. are the days I wanted to do some wine country.

charnees

I don't know about night-life being in my 70s and no longer needing to do that.

But I do know that you need to be aware that it takes big chunks of time to get around in Italy. You are talking about an area about the size of California, so you can't just hop from one to the other.

If you want to do wine country, just get a good guidebook for Tuscany and pick a couple of places to stay. Look on the Internet for music festivals in italy to help you decide. For wine country it would be good to have a car, although you probably will have to leave it outside many of the towns, as they have Traffic Limitation Zones (aka ZTL). That could take up most of your week.

Capri is a long way from Tuscan wine country. Even taking a plane from Pisa to Naples will consume most of a day, getting in and out of airports, hotels, etc. But it is possible to fly home from Naples, so if you must, spend 2 days around the Amalfi Coast (you do know that Capri is an island, don't you?) before you go home. No car on Capri.

macdogmom

Go to Tuscany and then head over to the coast nearby--try Portofino or Santa Margharita. We were in both places in the last two weeks and the weather on the amalfi coast was getting very hot and humid and the tourist quota was going through the roof. I was also amazed at how expensive it was compared to where we had been previously (including Rome). Check out italian riviera towns for less crowds, cheaper prices, incredible food and not quite so hot. We stayed in Montepulciano in Tuscany and really enjoyed it. I think for lots of night life you probably need to go to Rome or Florence.

suze

You need to prioritize. Because 7 days is not enough to do all you mention. How important is Capri? How important is Tuscany? Are you interested in Rome? Or Florence?

zeppole

Rose28,

I am far less pessimistic than others, but seven days means either you have to elminate something, or squeeze something very tight.

Fly into Napoli and go directly to Capri. Stay there for 3 nights, then ferry to Sorrento, pick up a car and drive to Tuscany. Given your interest in wine, why not stay in a winery in the heart of Tuscan wine country?

http://www.piombaia.com/Programma/ge...Lingua=eng.htm

There is no night life in Tuscany. (But you will get some in Capri.)

EIther you want to stay 2 nights or 3 nights in Tuscany before heading to Rome. If you are only staying 2 nights in Tuscany, drive the car to the town of Orvieto, drop it off and take the train to Rome. Spend your remaining time gawking as much as you can stand in the heat, and dance the night away in Rome's great night clubs (in Testaccio). Fly home.

If you stay 3 nights in Tuscany, you only have time to get to Rome to dance the night away, or if you prefer, skip Rome and just head to the Rome airport to drop off your car.

But think hard about whether you really want to hop around like that, and if not, don't be afraid to cut back on destinations and take it easy.

zeppole

PS: If going to the Italian Riviera appeals to you, fly into Pisa or Milan, go to the Italian Riviera by train, rent a car, drive to Tuscan wine country and then either pick Venice or Rome for your departure.

marcus72

I agree with Zeppole, my advice is rome, florence and yes passing by orvieto.
You can arrive in rome with your flight and stay 4 days enjoying all, day life, night life, clubs, and in that period most of all events on the tiber or alla round the central zone.
For romantic part in rome you can easily book a romantic apartment in the central zone, if needed can give you some adresses for that.
The with train you can go to florence and spend there 2 days, there too can have a romantic stay and walk in florence that is very beaurtiful and sure smaller then rome so very easy to walk all around the city.
Then can rent a car and or go to siena, that is middle way between florence and rome or go to pisa, or again to orvieto.
To these last palces one day is enough, so you can be back rome and take your flight back to rome.

ira

Hi R,

>I am trying to decide how to do all the things I want

I want to do capri and the blue gratto and I also want to do Tuscany and wine country and if I had to fit in one more option not sure if it would be rome or venice<

Face it, you can't do everything in one week.

If Capri is an absolute must, start in Naples, visit the AC and Capri for nights, go to Rome for 3 nights.

If Tuscany is a must, fly into Venice or Milan go to Florence and Siena, leave from Rome.

You won't want a car unless you wish to drive through Tuscany.

>i want to do romantic stuff and is there any night life in tuscany? <
I'm sure that it won;t be difficult for you to find romance and nightlife.

rose28

thanks again for all the responses.. i think after hearing all these opinions, i have come up with some sort of itinerary.. i would fly into florence and spend the night there, next day would go to tuscany for 2 nights, then go to italian riviera for 2 nights, the last 2 nights in rome,,
am asking for feadbacki would fly out from rome... again i
also does us gps work there? looking for fastest transit and i know the train is quick..probably only want a car in tuscany.. thank you again.. i am from florida so i like the heat, but how hot is it?

zeppole

You will save some time if you go to the Italian Riviera first, and fly into Pisa or Milan.

Think about this:

Fly into Pisa or Milan

Visit Italian Riviera

Pick up car in either Rapallo or La Spezia (depending on where in Riviera you stay) and drive to Tuscan base.

Drop off car in Orvieto. Train to Rome. See Florence as a day trip from Rome if you want to (so you can still be back in Rome at night in time for dancing).

Your gps will work if you have European maps on it.

If you're from Florida, you'll be fine.

zeppole

Sorry -- in case it wasn't clear.

Fly into Pisa or Milan and take the train directly to the Italian Riviera.

When you are ready to move on to Tuscany, pick up a rental car in either Rapallo or La Spezia, and drive to your Tuscan base.

rose28

zeppole
is it possible to do a day trip to venice while staying in rome? or is it too far?

zeppole

Too far!

zeppole

PS: Just so you know, Florence is 90 minutes by fast train from Rome. Venice is more than 4 hours.

rose28

okay, what about this
fly into pisa and go to tuscany for 2 nights, go to rome 2 nights, then to amalfi and leave from naples?
sorry i know Im being very wishy washy..

nytraveler

You have 7 days so even rushing you can see 2 places. Capri is difficult to get to quickly (and there would be no way for you to get a car to the island - or drive it while there). IMHO the Blue Grotto is mildly intersting but there are many days you can;t get in (it's open only if the sea is completely calm).

So I would pick a few days in Tuscany plus a couple in either Rome or Venice depending on your interests.

If you try to go to more than 2 places you will spend 50% of your time intransit, not remem er much and whish you hadn't wasted your very limited time.

zeppole

You're just trying to plan a trip that makes you happy! Why shouldn't you fine tune it.

I suggest you keep your Tuscan car rental and use it to drive to Sorrento. Drop off the car and take public transportation to the Amalfi coast (or Capri).

Spend the last days of your trip in Rome, right up until when you leave, and have a taxi take you to the airport in Rome for your departure.

Since you apparently plan to pick up a car rental upon arrival in Italy, maybe your best entry point would be Florence airport, and from there you can take a short drive into the Chianti hills. Use the Chianti area for your base. It's got plenty of rolling vinyards and romantic towns with castles.